OTSEGO TOWNSHIP, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency presented to the public the details of a settlement reached with a company that polluted the Kalamazoo river for decades.
The EPA, U.S. Justice Department, and The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) struck a deal with NCR Corporation earlier in December 2019, that requires the company to pay $245 million dollars in clean-up costs at the Allied Paper/ Portage Creek/ Kalamazoo River superfund site.
The company is implicated in the discharge of Polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, while it operated recycling paper mill facilities from the 1954 to the 1970s. The chemical has been classified by health experts as a carcinogen, and is tied to adverse conditions of effected wildlife and ecosystems.
Over the following decades, public concern has propelled regulators to step up efforts to halt source pollution and clean up the river. In 1977, The Michigan Department of Natural Resources first issued a public health advisory classifying PCB as a contaminant, and warning anglers not to eat fish caught in the water. The EPA later began taking measures to remove contaminated sediment, withdrawing 450,000 cubic yards since work began in 1998.
Speaking to a packed room at Ostego Township Hall on the night of Tuesday, January 7th, EPA Kalamazoo River coordinator Jim Saric told the crowd that certain sections of the river will need to see action sooner than others.
“That downstream section has more contamination, and that’s something that we see in a lot of sections of the river so it is not unique,” Saric said. “But we definitely had higher concentrations of PCBs in the in-river sediment, so that was something that was certainly concerning to us.”
The negotiated settlement includes provisions forcing the company to conduct what the EPA calls “time-critical removal actions” within certain sections of the watershed. Actions agreed to are the removal of the Trowbridge Dam to ensure normal waterflow, and the relocation of 180,000 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment and bank soil from the river. Remediation work will also entail the stabilization of 2.4 miles of riverbed to stem the flow of further eroded debris.
The EPA has designated the river into 7 activity areas beginning at Morrow Dam outside Kalamazoo and continuing to it’s outlet in Lake Michigan, with each of the areas beginning at successive dams on the river. Initial work will began at the location around Trowbridge Dam within Zone 4, which has some of the largest volumes of PCB laced sediment along the river’s path according to recorded samples. Work in that section is estimated to cost about $55 million and hopefully be completed by 2023.
Additional work will commence on Area 2 between the former Plainwell Dam and Otsego City Dam soon after, with the EPA considering a channeling operation to divert the river from a contaminated floodplain. In a public report provided at the information meeting, the agency says of the proposed realignment, “The alternative has less impact to habitat and surrounding properties than other options, protects against erosion, and will help maintain flow in the river channel.” The projects in Area 2 are anticipated to cost $46.4 million and take 5 years until completion.
Much of the contaminated sediment is actually hidden within six inches of the surface on affected riverbanks because active pollution of PCB’s has been largely halted since the 1970s. Those initial deposits have since been covered up by relatively cleaner amounts of drifted material carried by the river.
Speaking about stabilizing the river’s meanders, Saric said that while completely eliminating erosion of contaminated molecules is near-impossible, preventing the water from reaching the most PCB laden sections is a viable option. “the banks erode, and there is contamination that flows downstream every single day as the banks erode through natural processes.”
Further stabilization efforts in Area 3, which is located between the Ostego City Dam and Ostego Township Dam, have not been officially determined but the EPA says they are developing a list of options that will be subject to another public comment process before a final selection is made.
After being asked by State Rep. Mary Whitford who represents Allegan County’s 80th district, whether he thought it was a good settlement, Saric said that the amount of money being funneled to clean up the river compares with recent agreements made with other businesses who have paid up for prior pollution.
The EPA first confronted NCR Corporation with a issue action notice in 2011, around the same time environmental officials were discussing plans with other companies like Georgia-Pacific, International Paper Company, Weyerhaeuser and Millennium Holdings previously linked to industrial activity at the Kalamazoo River site.
NCR Corporation also settled with the EPA in 2017 to clean-up one of the nation’s largest Superfund projects at Wisconsin’s Lower Fox River and Green Bay Site.
Negotiated sections of the agreement allow NCR to compensate the EPA by $35 million if it fails to complete work in Area 3 within six years, or pay $52.5 million if it ultimately decides to entirely opt out within 60 days of reaching the settlement.
In addition, NCR is required to pay a total of $76.5 million to the EPA for all past and future costs, $27 million to the natural resources trustees for environmental damage, and $6 to EGLE for their remediation work.
Also attending the meeting were officials from the U.S. Justice Department, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Representatives from EGLE including Kalamazoo River Project Manager Dan Peabody, and members of the Kalamazoo River Advisory Group. The advisory group was formed by the EPA with the help of area residents to disclose continuing projects on the river and provide ongoing feedback.
The audience was given the chance to ask questions toward the end of the hour-long presentation, which ranged from concerns over ongoing fishing in the river to how funding would exactly be divided.
Mel Visser lives nearby and made the trip to the Tuesday night meeting. He says that area residents have been concerned about the contamination from the old paper mills for a long time. “We had no idea the NCR was the source of PCBs, that wasn’t discovered until the late 1970s when PCBs were banned.”
Though he said he’s still concerned by the effects of the chemical on the river, especially fish populations, he’s glad the EPA is moving forward with additional projects at the site. “I think tonight was wonderful, you know the process is going very well…and we’re making progress.”
EGLE has largely overseen efforts to prevent fishing in the Kalamazoo River, even taking strides to install multiple large signs at popular destinations for anglers cautioning them on the possible dangers of ingesting the area’s fish.
Lisa Williams, a contaminants branch chief with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was also at the meeting. She said that she’s excited for the EPA to move forward with more projects reclaiming native habitat in the watershed. “In addition to the clean-up work this settlement is going to help to fund, it will provide $25 million dollars for restoration projects, things that additionally benefit fish and wildlife by providing habitat or other things like that.”
The service is holding a meeting at the Kalamazoo Public Library on Monday, January 13th at 6:30 P.M. where officials will be be offering additional information on the restoration work funded by the settlement.
Williams is encouraging citizens to send their comments regarding the superfund site proposals before the upcoming deadline. The EPA is required by law to provide a public comment period before officially authorizing actions or officially approving agreements. Due to public interest, the initial comment period for the NCR settlement was lengthened from closing January 16th to a new date on February 18th.
Residents can share their comments by emailing pubcomment-ees.enrd@usdoj.gov or mail Assistant Attorney General, U.S. DOJ-ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, D.C., 20044-7611.
